


When Your Husband And Son Are Superheroes...

by eliotandq



Series: You are not Tony Stark [13]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Light Angst, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Parents, Protective Pepper Potts, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), maybe just a little, peter parker is alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-13 08:30:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21241178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliotandq/pseuds/eliotandq
Summary: "Mom, please!""Come on, honey, let him have some fun.""Okay, fine, you can go to Europe."Or, Peter goes to Europe and Pepper doesn't like it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You should probably read previous work :)
> 
> Let's ignore the time problems and the other stuff...

"So, I'd like to start with an apology that it took me so long to come. I was gone for a while. But don't worry, I'm fine now. I am alive. But I wasn't for a while. A year and two months ago a terrible thing happened. A guy named Thanos came to our planet and wiped out half of all people. I was among them. I died. I died in my mum's arms, and even though I told them I didn't remember much, the truth is I remember everything. It was terrible. Dad fulfilled his promise to return from that spaceship. But it took him a little longer to return, so mom was alone for less than two months. She's a really strong woman. I admire her. Just like you. But back to the topic. Dad returned and it took him eight months to solve the whole situation. He solved time travel, would you believe it? They returned to the past for the infinity stones so they could snap and wish that all that Thanos erased to live again. For once, everything went quite smoothly. So almost. We lost the Captain, who sacrificed himself for a stone of soul. I'd like to talk longer, but I'll have to go! Dad managed to convince Mom to let me go on a school trip to Europe, and we're leaving tonight. It was good to see you again. Love You May. I promise no more dying. When I get back from Europe, I'll stop by you again."

Peter gave the tombstone a last glance and walked away from the cemetery. The last two months have been quite hard. He spent a lot of time with his parents and that was great, but his mom had become quite protective of him. In the two months, he was back among the living, he had never worn a Spider-Man suit. He didn't want to stress her unnecessarily, but he knew it was coming. He still had no idea what will happen in Europe.

"Did you get your passport?" his mom asked him as soon as he walked to the penthouse.

"Yeah," he said simply.

"Mini toothpaste?"

"Yeah."

"I made cinnamon rolls for you, but you'll have to eat them with Ned before you board the plane," she said, handing him the bag that Peter accepted with a smile.

"No way! Thank you so much, Mom!" he said, and immediately pulled out one roll so he could eat it.

"You're welcome. Think about going straight to Malibu when you get back or staying in New York for a few days."

"We can fly straight to Malibu, the spring break was great there. I can't wait," he replied with a full mouth, which Pepper laughed. Sometimes she did not understand how he could be so mature and sometimes behave like a five-year-old child. Tony was exactly the same, so she shouldn't even be surprised.  


"Okay. You know what? You should pack your suit, just in case," she said suddenly, and Peter almost choked on the roll he ate.

"What? Why? I'm going on a school trip!"

"Hmm, that wasn't a problem for you before," she murmured, and he swallowed hard. He didn't even know that she knew about his incident in Washington.

"Well, but this is different."

"You never know," she said, and he frowned slightly. He thought she'd rather if he stayed away from his suit.

"Pep is right, it's always good to have something at hand. Take at least the web-shooters I made for you," incoming Tony said.  


"Okay, I'll take them. But I still think it's useless. I want a break," he muttered. He wasn't a Spider-man right now, but he still wanted to take a break. He knew it wouldn't last forever, but the last time he put on his suit, he died. You can't be surprised by his decision.  


"Yeah, I'm sure everything will be fine," Tony said encouragingly.

"Are you sure you have everything?" asked Pepper, who suddenly felt anxious that Peter was leaving for so long.

"I think I have, and what I don't have, I'll borrow from Ned," he replied.

"Happy is down. You should go on, you still have to pick up Ned and you know what traffic is at this hour," Tony said, hugging him good-bye. "Enjoy it."

"Thanks, Dad, I will. I'll send photos."

"Please write to us when you arrive in Venice," Pepper said worriedly as she hugged him too.

"Don't worry, I'll be in touch. Before you know it, we'll all be enjoying the holidays in Malibu," he muttered into her embrace.

"Okay, have a nice trip," she said, and then she and Tony watched him disappear into the elevator.

"I know it's hard, but there's nothing to worry about. He's back, going on a trip with his friends," Tony said gently, kissing her cheek.

"I know, I just wish I never had to take him out of my eyes again," she murmured and hugged him.

"Who would have thought of you being a helicopter parent," Tony laughed.

"Haha," she murmured into his chest.

"But seriously, don't worry. I gave him Edith," he said, and Pepper stepped away from him and gave him a disbelieving look.

"Sorry, I must have heard wrong."

"What? I thought you'd be glad!" said Tony, puzzled.

"Are you normal?! You can't give him Edith, he's not even a major yet!" she gasped in horror.

"As I said, it's always good to have something at hand," he explained, confused.

"But not something so powerful, especially when he isn't even eighteen years old!"

"Honey, don't freak, he's going alone across the ocean, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't let him go all alone!"

"What are you talking about? I thought you were up for him to go!" she cried in confusion.

"Of course I didn't want to let him go when it was only two months since we got him back, but we can't stop him from being with his friends just because we are anxious."

"Oh, my God, we need to calm down. It'll be a little over a week, we can do it," Pepper sighed.

"Yes, we can do it. And besides, he has Edith who reports everything that happens when he uses it."

"Why didn't you leave it to Karen?"

"Because it's just in his suit. Edith is in glasses. Trust me, honey, everything will be fine," Tony said.

It is only a few days later that Tony receives a warning that Peter has released drones on a bus full of his classmates. And he decided he wouldn't tell Pepper about it. What eyes can't see, that heart doesn't hurt, right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted some insight into how Pepper felt after the snap and later I want to add more with Tony too.

_Two weeks after Thanos won_

"All right, then start hiring new people as soon as possible. We have to start doing something," Pepper said to one of her assistants, who reported her about the status of their employees.

"We'll do everything we can to do. We have the first list of erased people. What are the next instructions?"

"Children are a priority, making sure that if they do not have any of their relatives alive, they will receive asylum in one of our houses. So far we've only managed to get one in Manhattan, so we'll start here. Over time, more should open. We're working on one in Queens right now."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have a visitor, Mrs. Potts-Stark," her second assistant announced, hurrying to them.

"A visit?"

"Colonel James Rhodes. He's waiting in your office," the assistant replied.

"In that case. Continue your work, later I'll look at the financial side of the whole thing," she said before leaving them alone in the hallway and going to her office. She wasn't very prepared for Rhodey's visit, but when he was here she couldn't refuse him.  


"Rhodey!" she greeted him as she walked into the office.

"Pepper," he returned her greeting, exchanging an embrace before they both sat opposite each other.

"What brings you here?"

"I wanted to see how you were holding up, so I went to Penthouse, but there I found out that you were working. Pepper, I know what you're doing and it's really noble, but you know you don't have to do that, do you?"

"If I don't, then who?" she asked with sadness in her voice.

"I can't imagine how hard it must be for you. Why aren't you at home and concentrating on yourself?" he asked gently.

"And how does that help me? They're not here, but these people do, and they need help," she snapped.  


"We have one guy looking for him in space. We'll find him, Pepper. Did you cry at all?"

"Of course I did! My son has turned into dust in my arms! But now I can't, don't you understand? I can't, because once I start crying, I will never stop. What I'm doing now, at least helping someone," she explained brokenly.  


"This is not healthy."

"I don't care."

_ Now _

Pepper didn't know what to feel. Panic? Anxiety? Rage? Oh yeah, the anger that she felt was really huge. How dare he?!

_ " _ What do you mean Nick Fury called him?!" she cried into the phone.

_"As I say,"_ Happy replied.

"Happy! I sent you to Europe to watch out for Peter, and not for Nick Fury recruiting him to fight the water! Do you know how I feel now?!"

_ "I know, but you can be calm. The strange guy did most of the fight. Peter was just helping people." _

"Don't tell me to be calm! God, Happy. Please just watch him," she sighed. Tony gave Edith to Peter, which Pepper wasn't very comfortable with, so she decided to send Happy to watch over their son.  


_"He's all right, boss,"_ he assured her before he hung up.

Pepper looked back at the computer screen where the footage of the attack on Venice ran. Only the green guy was visible, but that didn't help her stay calm at all. 

"Not like that," she murmured to herself, moving away from her office and straight into the penthouse. The company will have to wait for now. The journey took her barely three minutes, thanks to working and living in the same building. And as soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she heard Tony's voice.  


"There's no such thing."

_"I thought that was just theoretical. I mean, that completely changes how we understand the initial singularity. We’re talking about an eternal inflation system. And how does that even work with all the quantum, it’s insane!"_

"Peter, I said it once. There is no interdimension!"

_"Are you just the one who solved time travel?" _he asked teasingly.

"Yeah, and that's enough! This guy isn't from another dimension, the end of the discussion!" he snapped.

_"Jesus, Dad, did you get up with the wrong leg today or what?"_

"Kid, just because you're on the other side of the ocean doesn't mean you're talking to me like that."

"Peter, hun, are you all right?" Pepper stepped into their phone call and finally reached the living room where Tony was sitting on the couch with a tablet in his hand looking for something.

_"Hey, mom, I'm great!"_

"What happened?"

_"Water attacked us, who would have said that?"_ he tried to joke.

"Did you fight?" she asked heavily.

_"Not much. I just had my web-shooters and I couldn't do much against the water with them. The bell hit my head. Twice."_

"Oh sweetie, don't you want to go home?" she asked, knowing the answer.

_"It's all right, Mom, Mysterio has it under control. I'll just have a holiday with Ned and MJ."_

"Back to what I originally wanted. The photo is really bad and Friday will take a while to recognize the face and I know I've seen him before. Can you try a facial match with the help of Edith?" Tony interjected.

_"No, I won't, Dad. I hope I won't see him again. It's his fight, not mine."_

"Nice to hear that, enjoy Paris, and if Nick Fury bothered you again, you would tell me, okay?" said Pepper.

_"Sure thing, mom, I'll call you from Paris, guys,"_ he said, hanging up.

"Pep, I hate to say it, but this isn't definitive. You know him, he gets into trouble in a second. There's nothing like interdimension, and if the guy claims to be, something's wrong."

"It's your tingle, as May would say?" she asked with a small smile.

"Well, yes it is. I'll wait if Friday will be able to tell me more, and by then we'll have to pray that everything is all right."

"Then welcome to my world, because that's all I do when you and Peter are away and fighting. I should probably also tell you that Happy didn't take a vacation, but I sent him to Europe to watch out for Peter, so he could intervene in extreme need," Pepper sighed.

Why couldn't everything just go smoothly once?


	3. Chapter 3

_Sometime after Tony returned from space_

Tony stood outside in the rain. He didn't care that he was wet to the bone. He had a difficult task ahead of him, and somehow he couldn't make it out loud. He screwed up. He promised. And he didn't keep it.

"I'm so sorry!" he sniffed. "There was nothing I could do, May. I wasn't even there. I sent him home to be safe. To be with Pepper. And I came back from space just to know he's gone. I couldn't protect him. I promised you I'd do everything to make him happy. To protect him. And now he's gone. I'm so ashamed. I want to make a new promise here. I hope you give me another chance. I'll get him back. Whatever it takes. Are you listening, May? I'll bring our boy back at all costs. And then I'll make sure it never happens again. He will live a beautiful and long life, " he said, putting the white lilies on the floor beside the tombstone.

Then he went home. He had a lot of work to do.

_ _Now_ _

Pepper moved nervously from one end of the living room to the other. In doing so, she did not forget to check every few seconds the clock that was hanging on the wall. The last few days had been hell for her.

The next day, after they and Peter talked about Venice, he called and told them that Nick Fury had kidnapped his vacation. He says he is taking him to Prague! Pepper was extremely furious and had a pretty long phone call with Nick Fury and then with Peter too. In the end, it ended up that Peter fought again in Prague. Tony was already preparing a suit that he was going to fight, but Fury told him that he wouldn't make it in time.

Pepper could live with this. Soon it was over and Peter wasn't hurt. Mysterio did a lot of work again. Soon, however, Peter called that he had lost Edith. Tony was upset with Peter and Pepper was upset with her husband. She told him not to give him those glasses!

Then their paths split for a moment. Friday was finally able to recognize the face in the photo. It was Dr. Ludwig Rinehart. He was employed by Stark Industries. Then he had specialized in developing his own holographic technologies. He worked on the Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or B.A.R.F. Tony said he released him because he wasn't stable. In other words, the guy was a madman. They immediately tried to connect with Peter, but they failed.

Meanwhile, Peter figured out that everything had been an illusion created by Beck. He went to Berlin to see Fury, but there he was unpleasantly surprised.

"You took Edith from me! It doesn't belong to you!"

"You're so wrong, kid."

Then it was really psycho. Peter didn't know what was true and what wasn't. He was done. He was so done. In a moment like this, he wished he was a normal kid. To have a normal family.

"Parker! Who did you tell?" Fury asked again. And Peter relieved. Fury will take care of it. So he told him.

"Just MJ and Ned, who perhaps said it to Betty."

"You're so trusting," Fury said, and Peter frowned. No, no, no. Not again. Beck stood in front of him and another thing Peter knew was that he was hit by a train.

When Pepper found out, she felt as if she were back the moment her son turned into dust. Her child was hit by a train. Her child was hit by a train. Her child was hit by a train. It was the only thing that ran through her head.

"Stay where you are, we're on the plane immediately," Tony blurted, finally getting Pepper out of her thoughts.

_ _ "No need. We're on our way to London. We had a conversation and made it clear. Peter knew I was sitting around, so he called me." _ _

"Why are you on your way to London?" Pepper asked hysterically. They were supposed to be on their way home!

_ _ "Someone has to stop the madman. By the way, Edith has not been lost. Beck stole her." _ _

So, yeah, her last days were hell. Now she waited for Tony to arrive home with Peter. She would go to the airport with him, but she knew that as soon as she saw her son she would lose it. Finally, there was the clink of the elevator, and she immediately ran into the corridor.

"Uh, hey, mom," Peter said nervously. Visually, she could not tell that he had suffered any injury due to his rapid healing. Pepper was glad for that. Looking at him when he is hurt is too much for her.

"You're so in trouble," she murmured, hugging him tightly.

"I know, but I'm fine!" he whispered, returning her embrace.

"Well, at least one of us is. Tony and I almost died worried about you!" she said with tears in her eyes and stepped away from him.

"I'm sorry, Mom, but someone had to stop him!"

"And that someone must have been you, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you want me to say. I didn't mean to, but that guy was about to destroy London and I was closest. What was I supposed to do, let people die there? Let my friends die there?" he said in defense. Tony just stood there, knowing better. There was no point in interfering with their conversation.

"I know you couldn't, I just wish it didn't have to be you."

"It happened."

"Just so you know, no Spider-man while we're in Malibu," she said, and Peter gave her a disbelieving look.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"But I just found my lost power to put on a suit! I'm not afraid that whenever I put on a suit, I die, anymore."

"But I am! Don't you understand? If it was for me, you would never wear that suit again!" she snapped.

"Then I'm glad it's not up to you!" he cried.

"You know what? Fine. Do what you want," she retorted, and was gone before he could say anything.

"So I think we should talk," Tony said after a moment of silence, leading Peter into the living room where they sat on the couch.

"She can't make that decision for me," Peter murmured as they sat down.

"I know this, Pete, and believe me she too, and that's why it's harder for her. If it were up to her, I would never wear a suit again too. But she realizes it's part of us. She will never want us to give up this. In return, we must understand something. Sometimes Pepper is somewhat hysterical, but you must realize how much she has to experience with us. How many times she thought I died. How many times she got into danger because of me. How many times she was worried about you. You died. And that was hard for all of us, but she watched you turn into dust. And there was nothing she could do about it. And then she was alone. And she stood. She is so strong. I think the real hero is her, not us," he explained, and Peter felt terrible. Of course, he knew all this.

"I know, dad. I'll go talk to her," he said, getting up from the couch.

"I'll order something for dinner so far. We're going to Malibu tomorrow."

Peter nodded, then started up the stairs. He found Pepper in her home office sitting at her desk looking out the window.

"Uh, I want to apologize for screaming," he murmured as he slowly walked to the table.

"An apology is accepted," she said in a monotonous tone, still turning her back to him.

"Can you look at me? Mom, please," he rasped.

"Sometimes I think I'd rather have an ordinary husband and an ordinary son," she said, turning to him.

"Wouldn't it be boring then?" he asked nervously.

"Maybe, but imagine how much stress and nerve would save me."

"I am sorry."

"Don't apologize for who you are. Would it be nice to have a normal life? Maybe. But I wouldn't trade mine for anything," she said with a small smile.

"I know it's not easy for you, and as long as I have something to say, I'll make sure my dad and I always come home."

"I want to believe you, Petey, really yes. But after all the years I live with Tony, I know this promise is not fulfilled. And that's all right, hun. I know what life I chose."

"You know I love you, don't you?"

"And I love you, Pete. It doesn't change the fact that you don't take your suit to Malibu. Spider-man has appeared in Europe, and if it appears in Malibu, it may be of interest to anyone. And we don't want that."

"Yeah, okay, that makes sense," he murmured.

"You should go pack your stuff."

"Well, I will, but so far I have just received a hug for greeting. Where is my kiss?" he asked teasingly. Pepper finally smiled fully and got up from her chair to kiss his forehead.

"Now go," she said and she ran fingers through his curls.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, English is not my native language, so I apologize for the mistakes.


End file.
